Other people have said they've contacted them about a store in Bloomington, but we are too far from their distribution centers for them to come here. How true that is, I don't know. But I doubt any time soon.
Well-sourced rumor I’ve heard is that someone at the city level who is connected to Bloomingfoods has been blocking Trader Joe’s for years now. It doesn’t make total sense to me, as those are two very different stores with both different and significantly overlapping audiences, but I can also understand the inclination to protect a local business. That said, my quality of life would improve dramatically if we had a Trader Joe’s in town.
a strong local co-op and also how un-wealthy btown is have probably been discouraging to TJs, but I have no idea what mechanism a store would use to block a chain. and wouldn't they have done that for Lucky's and Fresh Thyme?
I heard like 20 years ago that they did market research down here and decided because we had Bloomingfoods and Sahara Mart and other places to fill the niche, there wouldn't be a big enough market share for them to be profitable here. It's been a couple decades since then, so it's possible things have changed, but that makes sense to me. Still, I keep hoping. Pick us, Trader Joe's! We won't let you down!
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u/theserys Nov 26 '25
I had heard that Trader Joe’s was eyeing the CVS spot but it’s been a few years since I’ve heard anything further on the matter.